BRUSH
Keeping It Clean

"Uh, oh, my braces go on tomorrow, and I'm a little nervous. It's a new experience. What should I expect?"

When braces are placed, your mouth will get a little sore for a few days until you become used to the braces. There are two reasons for the soreness. First, now you have all those little "sticky-outy" things on your teeth. Second, your teeth are going to start moving, and that's a new experience for your teeth. If you take ibuprofen every six hours with a big glass of water or milk or with a full meal, and if you rinse with a teaspoon full of salt in a glass of warm water three times a day, your teeth will very quickly adapt to being moved. Dr. Malerman will give you wax to put onto your braces to pad them up, and you can dab Orabase-B onto sore spots, all of which will make you feel better sooner.

For the first few days your teeth and the wires are going to feel wiggly. Remember in order to straighten your teeth, we have to move them. As your teeth move into their new positions, they will restabilize.

The cleaner you keep your mouth, the healthier your gum tissue, the sooner gums will adapt, the sooner you will feel normal. Remember to take care of your braces, and they will take care of you.

Once braces go on, you have to stay out of lightening storms. As you can see, the hardest part of braces are your orthodontist's bad jokes.